


Forgive but Don't forget

by DaniMeows



Series: Salt Mines [2]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrien grows a spine, F/M, Marinette gets subtle revenge on lila, Passive-aggression, Revenge, Salt, Season/Series 03, She's Done, Slow Burn, and refuses to take any crap, no one dies, still more chamelon salt
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-04
Updated: 2018-12-14
Packaged: 2019-09-07 13:12:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,971
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16854595
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DaniMeows/pseuds/DaniMeows
Summary: “There will come a time, my darling,” her Great Grandmother Margaret Dupain née Black said, “that those around you will show you who they truly are at heart, whether they are friends, foes, or mindless sheep. When that time comes it may be more politic to let them think that you forgive them but never forget it, not even for a second. They showed you their true colors, believe them.”





	1. Kill Em with Kindness

**Author's Note:**

> Unbetaed as always! This was only supposed to be a drabble but apparently once I got started it became a full story. Hope you enjoy.

“There will come a time, my darling,” her Great Grandmother Margaret Dupain née Black said, “that those around you will show you who they truly are at heart, whether they are friends, foes, or mindless sheep. When that time comes it may be more politic to let them think that you forgive them but never forget it, not even for a second. They showed you their true colors, believe them.”

 

Marinette remembered those words and after the first Lila incident she’d been begun to classify  the people in her life fully. For most of her life she’d not lived by those words.

 

In her desire to see the world positively she had forgiven without even receiving apologies for being hurt and oftentimes apologized herself for things that weren’t really her fault. Once she’d gotten her miraculous it had gotten worse. In her desires to be a good Ladybug and  perfect heroine she’d buried her own feelings and pushed them aside for the sake of others. She was done with all that.

 

She made a list of friends, foes and sheep.

  
  
  


Friends: Chat Noir.  

 

And even that was questionable. What if he was one of her horrid classmate? Carapace, Rena and Queen Bee were after all in her class with her. What if rather than being the exception to the rule, he too was in her class?  She trusted him still and for now would consider him a friend to Ladybug at least, she didn’t know if he was a friend to Marinette yet.

 

Foes: Lila, Chloe, and Ayla.

 

Of the three Ayla had hurt her the most and been the hardest to write down. Alya who’d trusted a virtual stranger right away while disbelieving her best friend? Alya who’d sent her to the back of the classroom alone so that she could sit with her boyfriend and had left her alone most of the day only to at the end of the day say ‘you don’t think I’d let my best friend sit by herself, do you?’ Alya had the gall to insist that it was only because she was jealous? Some best friend she was.

  
  


Sheep: The rest of the class, who turned on her in less than a day. Some of them she’s known since they were in diapers. All of whom she’d done acts of kindness for and tried to keep them from harm.  Then in the morning one day they all turned and glared at her like she’d suddenly denied Lila’s handicap or said something offensive instead of just asking if she really had to give up her seat without being asked when the whole class hadn’t needed to move just Lila, and if she’d really had to sit in the back.

Then of course they’d believed that a wadded up napkin would blind a boy who wore glasses.

  
  


If she had to select another miraculous user she certainly wouldn’t pick from her class.

 

Unless there was an ostrich miraculous out there. She’d give that one to Adrien.  Ostriches stick their heads in the sand to avoid problems, Adrien ignores problems in the hopes they’ll go away without direct action. He knew Lila was lying, he saw her getting hurt by the classroom’s actions and did nothing.

 

Then he gave her a speech about doing nothing because it was harming no one. That if they both knew Lila was a liar did it matter? And that exposing her would do more harm than good.

At the time, she’d accepted his high road speech. It wasn’t until she wrote about her feeling and then destroyed them that she realized so many reasons his logic was bullshit.

 

She was harmed. Therefore, Lila’s behaviors were harming someone. Unless Adrien thought she was no one? But yet he called her friend? Gee thanks  _ friend. _

 

Also what if someone with actual disabilities comes into class once everyone finds out the truth or grows a brain and realizes how untrue Lila’s stories are?  Would they automatically assume that they were lying without proof and then continue to treat them with skepticism because of Lila?

 

Part of her wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt. Maybe he didn’t realize she’d been harmed? He didn’t know that she was nearly akumatized twice or that Lila had threatened her, maybe that would have pushed him out of ostrich mode?  Part of her believed that maybe that was the remnants of her crush speaking, though.

 

For now he was classified as a sheep. She hoped he wouldn’t move to the foe list and if he suddenly grew a spine, she’d gladly classify him as a friend again. 

 

His true colors were hidden by a desire to keep the peace. She’d give him one more chance to prove himself trustworthy before giving up entirely on him.

 

However she no longer dreamed of marriage, hamsters and three kids with him.

  
  
  


Another family members words had also been echoing through her brain a lot lately:

“Someone afraid to fight for what they want deserves what they get”

 

Her family valued cunning and ambition. She’d always had ambition but now she was going to use her cunning.

 

Adrien felt that they should be  _ passive?  _ Well she was about to show him the  _ aggression  _ in passive aggression.

 

The list she’d come up with her parents and family members had many steps and she’d started on the second day after that horrible day.

 

**Step 1: Be as sweet as pie.**

 

As Marinette walked into the classroom she was delighted to see that she had an audience but she hid that fact as she walked up to Lila and her fawning sycophants.

 

“I’m terribly sorry,” she said to Lila not meaning a word of it but you wouldn’t know it from her voice.

 

“I was having an awful morning yesterday and when I sought clarification on my seat change it wasn’t because I didn’t want you here,” she said trying not to let the words burn on the way out, “I just wanted to be near my friends, but I’m so glad you’re here.” 

 

Lies, lies, at least dinner contained pies. She was going to need it.

 

**Step 2: Earn the classes ‘forgiveness’.**

Somewhere deep down it burned Marinette that it took a whole week before the class even started to forgive her.

 

But she buried her anger it wouldn’t do to be akumatized and not just because she was Ladybug and if she went down who would purify the akuma? But also because somehow she knew that even though they didn’t blame the others for their actions if she were ever to be akumatized they’d somehow manage to blame her for her actions because they demanded more out of her than they did themselves.

 

The talks she’d been given about gaslighting and how to recognize bullying and emotional abuse had been most enlightening.

 

Maybe she hadn’t been able to vent about Tikki or about the pressures of being Ladybug while also being Marinette but she’d been able to vent about most everything else.

 

Plus the meditation lessons from Master Fu and the fact that she had permission to find and choose a new Carapace and Rena Rouge so she didn’t have to try and trust her old teammates on the field, since they’d proven not to have the values she’d selected them for.  Chloe was on thin ice at the moment since she hadn’t done anything one way or the other while Lila was turning the whole class against her. Plus she had to weigh whether or not it was worth a screaming bitch fest and potential hostilities with the mayor.

 

Forgiveness was a nice thing to do in theory, but some people came to believe their actions were okay.

 

She hated every part of steps one and two but it was worth it. The class trusted her again. They acted like nothing had changed.

 

Like it was Marinette that had done wrong to be upset about seat changes and to doubt ‘Poor Lila..; and part of Marinette wanted to scream at the spineless sheep. Instead she’d bent over backwards to help them and ‘poor Lila.’

 

All week she acted apologetic and soon she earned her ‘friends’ affection back.

 

Yesterday she’d promised the whole class a big surprise tomorrow and it would be one hell of a surprise. She’d let them and especially Lila think it was just an extra special cake because it wouldn’t do for Lila to get cold feet and miss her extra special surprise.

  
  


**Step 3: Invite Jagged Stone to her class as a special treat to further apologize for being unwelcoming to** **_poor_ ** **Lila.**

 

This step was easy.  _ Uncle  _ Jagged was more than happy to help one of his favorite people.

 

He’d been angry on Marinette’s behalf when she’d told him about her day over the phone, that day after school she’d needed to vent to someone and had known that he wouldn’t judge her.

 

Her relationship with  _ Uncle  _ Jagged and  _ Aunt  _ Penny were some of her favorite familial relationships even if it was new.

 

Her parents and Uncle Jagged had hit it off and all four of them were always so supportive of her designs and ideas.

 

She’d never bragged to her classmates about the relationship that had formed between her and her favorite Rockstar because she’d cherished the familial bond that had been forming and she hadn’t wanted any press or anything to know about it.

 

She now knew both the public and private sides of her Uncle Jagged and had known that he held no love for cats and never had.

 

Marinette couldn’t help the smile that overtook her face as she walked out the door for school.

 

If wanting Lila to get her just desserts was wrong, she didn’t want to be right.


	2. Interlude: Adrien's Thoughts

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for your comments! Here's a brief interlude of Adrien's thoughts from the first chapter because the main chapters are only going to be in Marinette's point of view. I hope to have some more salt for you tomorrow but today was a rough writing day because I was a bit stressed. ^_^ Again thanks for all your comments.

**_Adrien’s point of view:_ **

 

Something was up with Marinette and Adrien wasn’t certain he liked it.  Something about it worried him. 

 

He hoped it wasn’t an akuma. He never wanted to fight an akumatized Marinette. Not only because it was difficult fighting his friends, he wasn’t certain if he could bring himself to fight her even if the damage was temporary, but also because creative and clever people made the most difficult akumas to beat.

 

He couldn’t imagine causing physical violence to Marinette, who was one of the kindest people he knew, and if he had to do that to her akuma. He’d hesitate. Ladybug would have to do all the work because he couldn’t bring himself to harm a hair on Marinette’s head.

 

She was one of his best friends and she was so amazing and special. There was a reason he’d called her the class’s everyday Ladybug. She was just so good. She amazed him on a regular basis.

 

If he wasn’t so in love with his Lady, he’d absolutely be in love with Marinette. Clever, creative, optimistic, kind and gentle Marinette. She had this aura around her which always made him feel warm and loved.

 

Since Lila’s first day when Marinette was trying so hard to get anyone to believe her, Marinette’s entire personality had changed, she was suddenly all sweetness and light. Practically fawning over the new girl and rushing to be helpful anytime she could.

 

Why? Why was she doing this? Is she okay? Was he wrong in suggesting they ignore Lila’s falsehoods so that Lila didn’t get akumatized yet again? He couldn’t help but feel that somehow he’d said the wrong thing

 

Before, she’d agreed with him for just a moment there had been an expression of hurt, quickly hidden away.

 

Ostracizing Lila would just make things worse and if they didn’t have proof of her lies wouldn’t it be far better to let it go for know while they knew the truth? If both of them knew the truth did it matter if others didn't while Lila tangled herself in bigger and bigger lies.

 

Not for the first time in his school career he wished he hadn’t been homeschooled. Was there a social interaction/cue, he was missing yet again? Did he say something the wrong way?

 

Plagg had seemed to think so giving him a lecture later about how inaction could be harmful and how sometimes it's better to stand up than to ignore bad things. The lies weren’t harming anyone and if action was taken now there would probably be yet another akumazition and he wanted to prevent yet another one of those attacks.

However, he couldn’t shake the feeling that he’d done something wrong, like he was on the verge of losing something special, and like he'd missed something important.

 

She’d been smiley and saccharine sweet even with him and he missed her. The real her. Who was sometimes shy around him but could have a fierce temper, who protected all of their friends and was always so warm and welcoming. Her eyes didn’t shine like they used to and he was worried. The way she’d smiled when she promised the class a surprise sent chills up his spine despite how it was said with such an air of sweetness and light.

 

He’d talk to Marinette during lunch and see if she would tell him what was wrong. Meanwhile he clutched his Marinette lucky charm and hoped it wasn't already too late.


	3. Always Hate Me

**Chapter 2**

 

**Step 4: When Jagged didn’t know Lila and discussed his vehement dislike of cats act semi surprised like the rest of the class.**

Uncle Jagged and Penny accompanied Marinette into class that morning. She’d thought about springing the surprise later in the day but they’d all be expecting their cake for breakfast.

She wouldn’t be serving cake, she’d be serving _tea_ and it would be _delicious._

At least for her, she had a feeling one person would find it a little too hot. Practically scalding in fact.

He waited at the door, while she walked in pasting her sweetness and light smile on her face.

“Are you guys ready for your surprise?” she asked.

Everyone looked excited. She heard Kim whisper about how big the cake must be for her not to be able to carry it in herself.

Uncle Jagged walked into the room.

‘Now for the fun part,’ Marinette thought with gleeful delight as her plan began to unfold.

Lila was already looking pale. Others still weren’t getting it. But that was okay. This was a presentation even the dumbest of sheep would understand. She hoped. But then again these classmates thought that you could blind someone wearing glasses with a wadded up napkin, so Marinette tried to remind herself that her classmates weren’t to bright.

“I thought since you’d rescued his kitten and he’d written a song that you’d love to see Jagged again since he came to Paris to commision me to design him yet another album cover,” she said, "And that it would make such a great _thank you_ for forgiving me for my rudeness present."

Her lessons from Great Gran about how to be composed at all time and say almost scathing things sweetly had really paid off.

“I thought you’d be delighted,” she added to the pale girl.

“What Kitten?” Uncle Jagged asked, playing his part to perfection.

“When did you have a kitten?” Penny added.

“My _dear friend_ Lila was telling us two weeks ago that she saved your kitten at an airport runway and you were so happy you wrote her a song,” Marinette said. Taking delight in the increased palness on Lila’s face and the expressions on her classmate’s face.

“Who’s Lila?” he asked looking confused.

Marinette pointed to her pale classmate.

“You don’t know her?” she asked.

Jagged shook his head.

“Did you really have a kitten?” Marinette asked putting her most innocent tone to good use.

“You’ve always had Fang,” Penny added.

“I hate cats,” Jagged said, “Never had one, never will.”

Everyone stared as Marinette apologized for asking him to come all this way to surprise someone she thought she knew and oh this was terribly embarrassing she babbled.

The Rockstar smiled at her seemingly charmed by her stuttering babble when in actuality he was delighted that his little ‘Nette’s plans had gone so well.

“Don’t worry about it. It wasn’t your fault. I can’t wait to see what you come up with for this album. Rock On,” he said.

He left the classroom. It didn’t stay silent for long.

 

**Step 5: Watch as the rest of her lies come into play.**

“You lied to us?” Alya cried out looking Lila in the eyes.

Lila couldn’t deny it. Marinette smiled to herself as she walked to her seat in the back row.  She could feel Tikki laughing. It had taken her very little convincing for Tikki to agree to her plans. Apparently despite believing in forgiveness, kindness, and being a moral compass for Marinette. She held grudges against people who made her chosen cry. Especially those that caused her to nearly get akumatized twice in one day. The little kwami hated Lila and agreed that doing nothing about her lies was not the best course of action.

Lila clearly didn’t consider the possibility that someone knew the celebrities she’d lied about knowing and saving.

Ayla looked hurt but Marinette tried hard not to care. Alya had refused to listen to her and had acted like she Marinette was a liar.

It was tough to discover that someone close to you was lying to your face.

Others were joining in the discussion in the front of the room but Marinette didn’t get to watch it. Which was a shame because Chloe who’d been taken in with her lies had entered the fray and Marinette would have paid good money to see that fight.

Adrien grabbed her attention and his expression was pained.

“Can I talk to you outside?” he asked.

She nodded and got up to follow him. Marinette knew it was going to be an awkward conversation and not like the ones that they used to have together because she was too nervous to be herself around her crush.

He wasn’t happy about having his belief that bad people don’t change by being called out and challenged ignored.

“How could you?” he asked, “Now she’s going to be even worse! Her lies weren’t harming anyone!” he said.

She heard a strange hissing noise and for a moment wondered about it but then her anger took over, a calm sort of rage that she didn’t experience to often but that several of her classmates that had known her since she was a toddler could have warned him to run away from if they’d been present.

“Not harming anyone?” she said her voice quiet.  “Her lies were harming many people. She was telling them what she wanted to hear. So what would have happened when she wasn’t able to introduce Nino to famous DJ’s or Alya to famous journalists? She was messing with their dreams. Not to mention the harm that was done to me.” she said.

“To you,” Adrien hissed, “Clearly you’re fine since you were able to get your revenge. How’s it feel to be a bully like Chloe?” he said.

Marinette blanched and for a moment she knew all of her hurt showed on her face as she staggered back.

A deep breath and a reminder of her composure lessons and she stood with perfect posture as she too aimed to draw blood.

“All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good people do nothing. I guess you aren’t a good person after all,” she said to Adrien as she walked away from him and out the door and to her home.

Her parent’s could excuse her for the day and she didn’t want to take the risk that he’d see her cry. He didn’t deserve her tears.

Marinette ran home while focusing on keeping her sadness contained in such a way Hawkmoth couldn't get to it.

She wouldn't be akumatized over a dumb idiot boy who didn't use his brain. Plus if he thought she was like Chloe he definitely wasn't worth her tears. She'd thought for all that he was passive enough that she'd debated him as a sheep that maybe he was a friend. That he would listen to her and understand why she'd taken the course of action she did even if he didn't agree with her.

She wondered if she should call him her enemy but she couldn't bring herself to consider him that yet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't kill me! Interlude should be up by tomorrow morning! And Idiot Boy will get beaten with a clue by four!


	4. Interlude: Clue By Fours And Pain

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My muse woke me up from sound sleep at midnight just so that I could type up it's ideas and it wouldn't let me sleep until it was done. I've reread it several times but I hope it's still coherent when I wake up after the nap I'm about to have.

**Interlude: Aftermath of an argument.**

“ _All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good people do nothing. I guess you aren’t a good person after_ _all,”_ she’d said.

Her words echoed through the empty hall as she walked away. He didn’t even feel Plagg bite his fingers as he hissed at him. He felt numb.

Like someone had taken a foil and jammed it into his heart.

He knew he’d screwed up big time. He’d just been disappointed that she had kicked up the hornet’s nest and had done it deliberately. He'd been angry even before school because his father had been harshly critical of everything this morning.

“You screwed up big time,” Plagg hissed. He’d never seen his kwami so angry.

He didn’t acknowledge his words. He knew that and it hurt to breathe. Just because he was angry didn't give him the right to be so harsh with Marinette.

_ “All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good people do nothing. I guess you aren’t a good person after all,”  _ kept echoing in his brains.

It hurt. He didn’t understand. Where had things gone wrong?

He was  angry at her for deliberately going after Lila after agreeing with him at first. For setting Lila up and exposing her lies when she’d agreed not too.

But was she really like Chloe? Chloe had lied and beaten people down. Marinette had merely been sweet, regained trust and then asked a celebrity she knew well to class to expose lies.

But people didn’t change by being humiliated with their misdeeds. It took showing them kindness and goodness he still believed that.

“Lila wasn't harming anyone,” he justified to himself weakly.

“She wasn't harming anyone physically,” Plagg hissed, “emotional harm is still harm. We fight akuma that are caused by people's emotional states being prayed upon by a psychopath and you think emotional harm isn't harm! I'm ashamed at you!”

Adrien bowed his head at Plagg's lecture as his words hit home. It hurt more to disappoint Plagg than it did to disappoint his father.

Was emotional harm the same as physical harm?

In his desire to give Lila a chance to change like the one that worked with Chloe had he potentially caused harm to his classmates and harmed Marinette?

His conscience reminded him that he himself had called Chloe out and so had his classmates. She didn't change by getting what she wanted just handed to her. She changed because people called her out.

_ “All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good people do nothing. I guess you aren’t a good person after all,”  _ his brain echoed.

Was Marinette right?

He put his hands into the pocket of his jeans. Marinette's charm touched his hand.

“I sensed multiple butterflies that day of school including one directly in your classroom probably targeting Marinette! If she gets akumatized,” Plagg growled.

He pulled the charm out and looked at it. The symbol of friendship and hope to him felt like a lead weight. It made sense he'd hurt the giver and probably lost his dear friend. He'd compared her to the girl that had bullied her for years according to Nino.

Akuma… Marinette… despite their argument. He shivered.

If Marinette were akumatized he'd never forgive himself.

He wasn't a good person at least he wasn't today but he was a superhero sometimes and he would make it right.

Marinette wouldn't want to see him but perhaps she'd talk to Chat Noir?

He needed help understanding. In advising Marinette to ignore Lila was he actively allowing the spread of evil?

 

**Interlude: Plagg has feelings too.**

Plagg always had a fondness for the Ladybugs that were Tikki’s chosen. They were always soulmates, platonic or otherwise with his kittens. Like Tikki herself they tended to spread warmth, happiness, and compassion wherever they went.

Marinette was probably one of the ones he was fondest of. She was fierce, she was kind, and she made the best cheese danishes he’d ever had.

Tikki had begun asking for them now that they were next to one another and could sneak time together while their humans were unaware and they shared them during the school day.

If Marinette were akumatized. Hawkmoth could get the Ladybug miraculous. When Ladybugs went dark the whole world suffered and seldom did people recover from the onslaught of karma and pain.

He cursed the rules that prevented him from telling Adrien outright that Marinette was Ladybug that he’d screwed up his chances with both girls in a single moment. Adrien might have lost his soulmate because of his actions and he couldn't even warn the kid.

  
The rules that stopped him from telling him what was at stake if he’d hurt Marinette so badly that she’d give into the dark.

He hoped her new attitude about taking no shit held true for resisting Hawkmoth for the third time in two weeks.

He might be the god of destruction and bad luck but his soulmate was the goddess of luck and creation. He couldn't help the soft spots he developed for his soulmates kids and even before he knew Marinette was Ladybug he'd known she was a perfect avatar for Tikki's powers.

He hoped the girl would be alright. He wanted to meet her properly one day.

If his idiot boy apologized and groveled enough maybe he would.

Or she could turn in her miraculous telling Fu to pick another Ladybug but he didn't think the girl would do that, in which case Adrien would be forced to give him up because they would no longer be in balance and both him and Tikki would be sent to new holders.

An akuma attack alert went off and he hoped it wasn't Marinette.

The last time one of Tikki’s chosen went down an entire continent sunk into the ocean never to be found again, many scholars about kwamis had mistaken it for one of his kittens that had brought down Atlantis but no it was one of Tikki's.

  
  


**Interlude: A conversation with a Chat**

Not Marinette. Please not Marinette. Adrien chanted in his head during his transformation.

He wasn't certain how he felt about their argument but please don't let it be Marinette.

He'd fought with her. Said something truly nasty.

If she gave into the dark now it would be his fault.

The akuma fight was outside the bakery and his heart stopped.

Not Marinette. Just don't let it be Marinette.

It wasn't. Ladybug had broken the object already and a crying six year old that had been the akuma was already being comforted by her mother.

He wasn't needed in battle. Ladybug had left the scene before he came back to himself. He took off but didn't get to far.

Luck gave him the briefest of blessings that Marinette was on her balcony and then proved that he was hated by luck because she was crying.

Marinette was crying and it was all his fault. It hurt. That wound in his heart was growing larger by the second.

“Hello Kitty,” she said hoarsely through tears.

“What's wrong princess?” Adrien asked even though he knew the answer. He prepared himself to hear scathing words about himself.

“I lost a friend today,” she began as her hands moved and his attention was drawn to the lucky charm he'd made her being switched between them.

“Yes, part of the reason I exposed her lies was for revenge, I am human and I wanted to see her pinned by her own lies but I don't see how I'm like the girl who bullied me for years. Who told lies about me over and over again and who attempted to frame me for things I didn't do. I did neither of those things and he accused me of being like  _ her.  _ I just exposed Lila as a liar using one of her lies against her. She threatened me, two weeks ago she threatened to destroy me, to take my friends…”

She gave a bitter laugh that chilled him to the core.

“Guess she did that. The only person who I wasn't certain if they were a foe or a sheep and he called me a bully for exposing the truth. Maybe I was right thinking he was an ostrich.”

Ostriches put their heads in the sand to avoid predators. Plagg implied more than once he did the same thing to avoid conflict.

“I don't understand, start from the beginning?” Adrien asked telling a partial lie. He understood some of it. He had been there after all. But Chat wouldn't. And what threats? Who had threatened her? When and where? Clearly he'd missed a lot. He needed to understand. If he was right in what he was thinking then he needed to know just how badly he’d erred.

The story she told chilled him. Her hurt and anger came through so strongly he checked for butterflies. His mind reeled even as she kissed his cheek and thanked him for listening and for being a good friend as she went inside because her mom was calling her.

Adrien’s heart broke at the irony. The reason she'd been crying was because his civilian self hadn't been a good friend and hadn't tried to listen and here he was receiving thanks for being a good listener and friend for listening as his masked self.

_ “All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good people do nothing. I guess you aren’t a good person after all.” _

A friend had been threatened and nearly akumatized and he’d done nothing. Had he even offered to listen to give her comfort or a place to vent? No. He'd asked her to stop trying to fight Lila's lies and then thanked her for it. Yes he'd sat next to her so she wasn't alone but that was all. He was a horrible friend even before today.

She hadn't told him about the threats or about the near akumatizations but had he given her any indication that he wanted to hear her? On a day when all her other classmates turned on her including her best friend for not believing Lila? Of course she didn't tell him.

Then today's argument. He was an absolute horse's ass.

“Adrien, you are the worst friend ever,” he whispered as he readied himself to face the music for skipping school.

Tears dripped down his cheeks as he considered the fact that she might not forgive him for what he’d said today and that he might have lost one of his dearest friends today and that if she didn’t forgive he’d deserve it.


	5. Chapter 3 and Many small interludes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay in getting this chapter out! I really struggled with it! I hope it's good but I couldn't take staring at it any longer. Next chapter is when the real karmic backlash begins!

**Chapter 3:**

 

The bed was far more comfortable than getting out of it and going to school.  Yes she did want to see the fallout from yesterday’s surprise but she didn’t want to see Adrien Agreste at the moment.

 

His words had really hurt. She wasn’t a bully. She wouldn’t have sought classwide vindication if Lila hadn’t threatened her and if she hadn’t needed to detooth the wolf before the big lying wolf attacked her.

 

Now there was a chance she’d get attacked during the next “Lila is an Akuma” attack that she’d expected to happen yesterday. However, Lila couldn’t turn the class against her, because now they wouldn’t trust her. Hopefully.

 

She remembered step six.

 

**Step 6: Watch the fallout from a safe distance.**

 

Pity she couldn’t just stay home. Then she wouldn’t have to ever see Adrien again. Or maybe she could transfer schools but no. She didn’t transfer schools during the years of getting bullied and verbally beaten down by Chloe she wasn’t going to leave now. Besides a good deal of the akuma attacks tended to happen to her classmates or at her school so she definitely needed to stay just for the convenience of the commute.

 

She took a deep breath and forced herself through her routine. She was strong, she was confident, and she would face him. If he thought and said such things was he really her friend?

 

Marinette walked to school while eating a croissant, almost hoping for an akuma attack so that she wouldn’t have to face Adrien Agreste until she was ready but she didn’t have that much luck.

 

“How’s it feel to be a bully like Chloe?” his voice echoed in her head still making her feel enough anger that she wanted to slap him in his stupid face. And yet it also hurt.

 

It wasn’t a new thing though for him to defend the bully at the expense of their victims. At least girl bullies… Hadn’t he shamed her and the rest of her class for being happy enough that Chloe was leaving that they were celebrating? When Chloe had bullied them for five years and hadn’t once targeted him in any of her cruel words and harmful behaviors because she liked him?  Of course he’d defend Lila. Lila hurt others and lied but never once harmed him. Of course he’d wanted to take the high road, he wasn’t the one being harmed.

 

It sort of hurt to know that he’d never cared about her. 

 

She ignored the voice that asked if he’d never cared, why did he keep her lucky charm? And why did he attempt to shield her with his body more than once.

 

It was better to feel that he’d never cared about her than to feel the grief again that she’d lost a friend.

 

Her classmates were gathering in large groups having a huge disagreement as she walked by and went to her seat in the back.

 

Adrien was already there and she pointedly ignored him and moved her seat next to him as far away from him as she could get. She pulled out her notebook and pen and proceeded to watch the fallout.

 

“Lila would never lie to us,” said Alya.

 

Marinette began to wonder if exposure to akumas outside of the suits caused brain damage. What had happened to the clever girl that had once been her friend? And yesterday she’d been the first one to realize Lila had lied. What on Earth had happened once she’d left?

 

“Well she clearly did or Jagged Stone would have known who she was!” Chloe insisted.

 

“Marinette probably hired a Jagged Stone impersonator, it wasn’t the real Jagged!” Alya said.

 

“It was the real Jagged, he’s in town this week remember and Marinette knows him!” Nino argued with his girlfriend.

 

“Where’s the proof that it was actually Jagged yesterday!” Alya argued back

 

Seriously, how much more proof did someone have to provide to get people to stop kissing Lila’s ass? It took them less than a day to turn on her but half the class was still team Lila a day after legitimate proof of lying was presented? How had Lila managed to convince half of her class that it was an impersonator.

 

Class began and the argument ended for now but Marinette’s head came close to hitting the desk repeatedly at the utter stupidity of at least 50% of the class.

 

Adrien set something near her desk but she ignored it. She didn’t want anything from him other than to be left alone.

  
  


Classes dragged by as she tried to understand how her former friends could still buy Lila’s lies. There was trusting and then there was stupidity.

 

The main highlight of the day was the class being assigned a speech about a topic of their choice and being required to provide many sources and examples. She knew just what hers was going to be and no it wasn’t Lila is a liar here are 95 different sources that prove that she’s a liar.

 

Adrien kept trying to push something towards her but she ignored it and hightailed it out of class as soon as school was over so she didn’t have to have a conversation with him.

 

Naturally, that was when the akuma chose to strike. At first the akuma battle didn’t bother her because she had some pent up aggression that might as well be dealt with by the adrenaline rush of an akuma battle but it was a bad one.

 

Her lucky charm basically told her that she needed Rena Rouge. She told Chat where she was going while he headed off somewhere to recover since he needed to recharge after an ineffective use of cataclysm.

 

As she ran towards Master Fu’s she let her mind weigh the pros and cons. She couldn’t trust Alya any longer but then again she didn’t trust Chloe but as Ladybug she did trust Queen Bee. On the other hand, she’d trusted Rena Rouge, a lot more than she trusted Chloe and quite frankly whatever was going on Alya’s head lately wasn’t inspiring much confidence in her ability to help out.

Irreconcilable differences. She didn’t have to chose the same person, just someone that she felt could be trusted with a miraculous.

 

Grabbing the fox miraculous, Marinette headed home to the bakery. Who could she trust more than her own mother?

 

Marinette transformed back into and went inside to talk to her mother. Her hands were trembling slightly. What would her mother say? Would her mother agree to help fight?

 

Her mom was upstairs preparing dinner while her father was downstairs restocking the bakery’s kitchen. 

 

“No need to be transformed, sweetheart, I know it’s you,” her mother said in her no nonsense tone.

 

Marinette detransformed with a small sigh. She knew better than to argue with that tone.

 

“How did you know?” she asked.

 

“Do you think a parent wouldn’t recognize their child?” her mother countered.

 

Marinette would have kept the conversation going but instead she explained about the akuma battle about how she could no longer trust the former Rena Rouge and how she wanted her mother to use the fox miraculous. 

 

Her mother turned off the stove and then transformed. She took to the transformation and the battle with ease. Along with Chat, they managed to defeat the akuma and save the day.

 

Part of Marinette was gleeful that Alya would soon know that she hadn’t trusted her enough for the miraculous this time and she refused to feel bad about it. Accepting that she didn’t have to repress her emotions at all times was doing wonders for her emotional states and seemed to keep the butterflies away much better.

  
  


**Interlude: Alya:**

 

Lila couldn’t have lied. Lila could have lied… It kept repeating in her brain on an endless loop.

 

If Lila lied then she’d turned against Marinette for nothing.

 

Lila, who claimed to know so many celebrities and who was best friend’s with Ladybug. She could open so many doors for Alya. The more celebrity interviews she got the more likely it would be for her dreams to come true.

 

But if Lila lied. Then she had nothing.

 

Her stance on truth in journalism would be shredded. The Ladyblog would be ruined. 

 

She remembered Marinette’s face since Lila’s return.  Remembered the hurt in the other girl’s eyes that had slowly died to be replaced with an expression of distaste and anger. She’d hurt Marinette.

 

If Marinette had been telling the truth and Lila had been lying all along then what did she have anymore. 

 

She had being Rena Rouge and Nino. Did she have Nino? Yesterday and today he was on the Lila was a big fat liar train and they’d not gotten along at all.

 

All she had was being Rena Rouge.

 

Her phone sent out an alert Rena Rouge was seen fighting an akuma alongside Ladybug and Chat Noir.

 

She didn’t have being Rena Rouge anymore.

 

Ladybug had found her unworthy and had replaced her with someone else.

 

Of course she did. What kind of person turns her back on her friend? Insists her friend provide sources, implying that her friend is a liar, and said deliberately hurtful things to her friend and about her friend in order to fit in with a new girl?

 

She’d lost a friend. She’d lost Marinette. She’d lost Ladybugs trust…

 

Lila had to be telling the truth because otherwise she’d chosen a stranger over her best friend and had exchanged the true for lie. It was why she believed Lila’s claims that it was a Jagged Stone impersonator brought in by a jealous Marinette.

 

Marinette was just jealous right?

  
  
  


**Interlude: Adrien:**

 

Google was letting Adrien down. Marinette wouldn’t even accept the note he’d written last night. There was no way she’d accept flowers, jewelry, or candy. Hell if he tried to give them to her she’d probably shove them down his throat. He’d deserve it.

 

It had hurt today. Watching her walk up the stairs and move as far away from him as humanly possible. Before, she’d sat close to him and they’d exchange the occasional words or smiles, even as he’d worried about the changes in her demeanor towards the others. He’d still enjoyed his time with his friend. Now though, she’d treated him like he didn’t exist and had refused the note he’d kept trying to give her.

 

How did you apologize to someone? Should he just blurt it out? And if he did blurt it out how did he earn forgiveness? Sighing, he threw himself on his bed and stared at the ceiling. Hoping for divine inspiration.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's a great and fascinating Adrien's motives in canon thread going on in Chapter 4's comments. [here.](https://archiveofourown.org/comments/197402214)


End file.
